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A lease without corn feeders?

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    #46
    My experience is if you’re wanting to shoot 3 and 4 year olds then feeders work great. Seems like after 4 they get pretty skittish and rarely visit feeders. I’ve had good luck doing small kill plots just off the feeder pens or setting up on scrape lines leading to the feeders

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      #47
      I think what you're seeing is pretty common. I believe the feeders and feed pens do a good job of keeping does and young bucks around at a minimum though. when the rut rolls around, you want all those does in the area.

      If I had to put a number on my place, I'd guess somewhere around 20-25% of the bucks never step into a feed pen. Unfortunate because they're missing out on protein, but it is what it is.

      during a typical hunt, 90% of the "nice" deer will be on the road corn, not in the feeder pen. They definitely prefer road corn to feeder corn.

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        #48
        When I moved south 20 years ago. We used feeders. We killed deer but what we saw was the Bucks would just cruise past looking. We started corning the roads. When we did the bucks would stop eat a bite maybe. look around and move on. That is all we needed was that pause.
        I grew up with feeders. So I just knew that I could make it work.
        I bought a cheap plastic feeder from Academy and a short stand and fill type.
        Set a plan. Built a spreadsheet and set up a camera.
        I wish I still had the spreadsheet but it was something like this.
        Large feed pen
        Small Feed Pen
        No Feed Pen
        Random
        On Road
        Off road
        What I ended up with is that the deer did not like the tall feeders the low feeder they were much more comfortable with but still did not hang out like I was used to.

        I then just went to only corn
        Same exact locations
        Large
        small
        etc.
        I had significantly more deer and bigger bucks on camera the deer stayed around longer. They kept a coming around at all times of the day not just when they thought feed might be there. Even after the corn was gone they would still visit the location for a week or more.
        That sold me. I stopped using feeders the next season and never looked back.

        Feeders for me really only did one thing and that was keep the Fing Hogs around all the time.
        Last edited by powderburner; 12-02-2021, 10:44 AM.

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          #49
          Every year on our place we have several good 4.5-5.5yr old bucks that just go missing at the start or half way through the season leading one to believe they got killed by a neighbor. No pictures for 2 years or so and then one of us will randomly see one of those bucks a time or two.

          My best buck we watched as a very promising 9 for several years guessing him to be 5.5 the last year we watched him (9 point 135"). Half way through season he goes missing to not be seen once not even on camera for 2 whole years. Shows up at a different blind and on camera after a 2 year hiatus, now a 10 with a sticker scoring 151", and I was able to kill him the second sighting I got of him that year

          My dads best buck we had on camera for several years, disappeared as a typical 11 with split g2's probably score about 140". Went missing for two years no pictures at all. Dad kills him mid December the following season on the opposite side of the ranch as a typical 12 with split g2's scoring 158" with probably 6-8" of broken tines.

          My brothers best buck I had watched for 2 years in a row and was the only one to ever see him. I don't hunt feeders that much, mostly travel corridors and water, saw this buck probably 3 times during each season for two years. He was never seen at a feeder or ever captured a picture of him anywhere. Following season I seen him once in a sendero on a travel corridor. Brother spent a couple weeks watching that sendero with a rifle and got him. Was a 21" wide 10 that was upper 40's.

          So yes mature bucks that are bigger than most the deer around are rarely seen at feeders, theres a reason they get big. They are very reclusive. As far as not using a feeder or corn, I wouldn't not have one but I wouldn't always be sitting over it.

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            #50
            Where we hunt you have to have feed of some sort. Feeders also work great for 90% of the deer population. Most of our big deer get killed off of feeders. But on almost every lease I have ever been on there has always been good deer that never hit a feeder. And if you primarily a bowhunter once the rut kicks off its very hard to kill a big deer off feeders. Its pretty much early and late season. For me its just the excitement of the unknown. I like running feeders and I like watching deer on cameras but honestly it gets really boring for me watching the same deer all year at the same feeder. It just gets monotonous for me unless there is a special "feeder Deer" I am after.
            To me its like eating at the same restaurant every day. Even though it may be great I like to try some new menus every once in a while. I can say this with all honesty, If I was given the option to kill a 160" deer by sitting in a blind staring out a window every day or kill a 140-150 deer by scouting and hand corning I'll take the latter of the two. I enjoy the experience much more. It just feels more like hunting to me. I hunt both ways but I like the variety of having both options for different situations. Just personal preference. It's not for everyone and nothing wrong with either.

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              #51
              Originally posted by KactusKiller View Post
              Not like running feeders year-round but as far as hunting if I had my preference I would never hunt over a feeder again. My only problem is trying to keep and corn consistent when you don’t live close to the lease. The deer are way more calm and move about more freely on hand corner or road but you must refresh it at least once a week. If you do not have Cales you can put out 50 to 100 pounds at a time and it will last a couple weeks typically but if you do have livestock they will get on it and take it over quickly.Pigs will do the same. But like I said if I had my preference in my lease is close by I would never hunt a corn feeder again.
              I have got to quit posting off my phone early in am and late at night!

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                #52
                After seeing this thread the other day, I went out on a limb today and hand corned an area that we have not hunted this season (there are feeders there but have not had corn in them since last February). I told my wife, who was with me, that this might be an exercise in futility but within 15 minutes of getting in the blind, we had deer in front of us. Ended up taking a mature doe which had not shown up at any feeders previously.

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                  #53
                  I have only seen a few mature deer not come to feeders when I bow hunt over them. But most will jump right in the pen. You just see more deer feeding senderos. If I’m rifle hunting the roads are fed before my feeders go off but when they do go off I always have the corn junkies leave the road corn and jump in the pen. Why they do this I don’t know. It’s the same corn.

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                    #54
                    Originally posted by Muddy Bud View Post
                    I have only seen a few mature deer not come to feeders when I bow hunt over them. But most will jump right in the pen. You just see more deer feeding senderos. If I’m rifle hunting the roads are fed before my feeders go off but when they do go off I always have the corn junkies leave the road corn and jump in the pen. Why they do this I don’t know. It’s the same corn.
                    If deer grow up eating at said feeders it’s a safe zone, away from cows and pigs.

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                      #55
                      True story. We have a buck that we really thought would be our “signature” buck when we got on our current lease. At the ripe old age of three, he was a pencil horned main frame 14 with several kickers. Scored upper 60’s to maybe 170. Complete corn hog and pet but only when it came to the roads. So much so that he literally ate corn out of my road feeder on the back of my truck while it was parked by the stand. We have a camera at this feeder every year. Feed cotton seed inside the pen. I don’t think we have a single picture of that buck inside the feed pen. Never see him until we start Corning roads in October. Btw-he is the biggest disappointment ever. He is seven this year and might score 135. Best set of horns he had was at 3. We keep carrying him forward hoping timely rains will let him blow up one more time. Point of the story is he isn’t the only one. We see a lot of deer on roads that never see the feed pen. Then we have others that live inside the pens. Go figure.

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                        #56
                        Originally posted by bklem View Post
                        True story. We have a buck that we really thought would be our “signature” buck when we got on our current lease. At the ripe old age of three, he was a pencil horned main frame 14 with several kickers. Scored upper 60’s to maybe 170. Complete corn hog and pet but only when it came to the roads. So much so that he literally ate corn out of my road feeder on the back of my truck while it was parked by the stand. We have a camera at this feeder every year. Feed cotton seed inside the pen. I don’t think we have a single picture of that buck inside the feed pen. Never see him until we start Corning roads in October. Btw-he is the biggest disappointment ever. He is seven this year and might score 135. Best set of horns he had was at 3. We keep carrying him forward hoping timely rains will let him blow up one more time. Point of the story is he isn’t the only one. We see a lot of deer on roads that never see the feed pen. Then we have others that live inside the pens. Go figure.
                        This is it really. If you see a deer that’s not hitting feeders ever, hunt chum, if you have a mature deer hitting the feeder don’t overthink it, hunt the feeder!

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                          #57
                          The one problem I have had with some pens is you will get a mature buck that will set up shop in one and won’t let anything else come it. I would much rather have pens than no pens though when it come to keeping hogs at bay.

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                            #58
                            I have a road feeder, wish I had time to utilize it more. I have to say when I have used it it seems to just attract hogs. My feeders with pens have no real problem getting deer into them. Do what works!

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                              #59
                              Hunted Starr County till from when I was about 7 till 1993 (I'm 49) and we didn't have feeders. We only fed the senderos that we watched from the blind. Saw plenty of deer. Oh and of course we only fed when we were there. Didn't have tailgate feeders either. I would sit on a bucket in the bed of the pickup spreading corn while my dad drove. When I wasn't there to feed my dad would just hang the sack of corn over the side of his window and drive down the sendero.

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